Coalition tries to cut union influence on super: report

The Coalition government is preparing to change the governance of industry superannuation funds in a way to reduce the influence of unions on boards that oversee $500 billion worth of retirement savings, news reports said.

Tony Abbott’s government “plans to target the 50/50 board arrangement under which industry funds have half of their board seats reserved for employee representatives" who are usually affiliated with unions and the other half reserved for employer representatives, The Australian reported on its web site.

Under the proposal, there would be three groups of directors, independent directors, including an independent chair, with the remaining two thirds split between union and employer representatives, the report said.

The move comes after the First State Super board was unable under current rules to remove director Michael Williamson, former head of the Health Services Union, even as he was fighting more than 50 counts of cheating and defrauding the union, of which he was general secretary for 10 years, the newspaper said.